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Welcome to Water Street Bookstore, the largest independent bookstore on
the seacoast of New Hampshire. We feature a comprehensive selection of
both local and national authors. Our friendly and knowledgeable staff
will be happy to assist you in finding just the right book for you.

Pitchapalooza is back!

After their triumphant Pitchapalooza in 2011, The Book Doctors are coming back to Exeter, and they are excited!

WHAT: Pitchapalooza is American Idol for books (only without Jennifer Lopez). Twenty writers will be selected at random to pitch their book. Each writer gets one minute—and only one minute!

WHO: Arielle Eckstut and David Henry Sterry are co-founders of The Book Doctors, a company dedicated to helping authors get their books published. They are also co-authors of The Essential Guide to Getting Your Book Published: How To Write It, Sell It, and Market It… Successfully (Workman, 2010). Arielle Eckstut has been a literary agent for 18 years at The Levine Greenberg Literary Agency. She is also the author of seven books and the co-founder of the iconic brand, LittleMissMatched. David Henry Sterry is the best-selling author of 12 books, on a wide variety of subject including memoir, sports, YA fiction and reference. They have taught their workshop on how to get published everywhere from Stanford University to Smith College. They have appeared everywhere from The New York Times to NPR’s Morning Edition to USA Today.

HOW: At Pitchapalooza, judges will help you improve your pitch, not tell you how bad it is. Judges critique everything from idea to style to potential in the marketplace and much, much more. Authors come away with concrete advice as well as a greater understanding of the ins and outs of the publishing industry. Whether potential authors pitch themselves, or simply listen to trained professionals critique each presentation, Pitchapalooza is educational and entertaining for one and all. From Miami to Portland, from LA to NYC, and many stops along the way, Pitchapaloozas have consistently drawn standing-room-only crowds, press and blog coverage, and the kind of bookstore buzz reserved for celebrity authors.

PRIZE: At the end of Pitchapalooza, the judges will pick a winner. The winner receives an introduction to an agent or publisher appropriate for his/her book.

PRICE OF ADMISSION: To sign up to pitch, you must purchase a copy of The Essential Guide To Getting Your Book Published. Anyone who buys a copy of the book receives a FREE 20 minute consultation, a $100 value. If you don’t want to pitch, the event is FREE. If you participated last year, you must buy the book again. Find a friend to give it to!

"Pitchapalooza was a blast; an informative, funny, adrenaline laced event. Amid all of the energy and encouragement from the Book Doctors, I soon found that I'd gone from fretting about my own pitch to cheering on my fellow writers, thinking, "Damn, I'd like to read that!" For an aspiring author, the simple exercise of turning your book query into a one-minute pitch for a live audience is a great way to focus the material, even if you don't get called on. I wasn't called on to pitch that night, but David's enthusiasm for my book idea during the phone consultation bolstered my confidence to keep submitting just when the rejections were piling up.

And the best part of Pitchapalooza is the big red book. When I attended last fall, the last thing I expected was that I would be returning to Water Street a year later for an event to launch my own book. When I bought my copy of The Essential Guide to Getting Your Book Published, I didn't dare dream that the later chapters on contract negotiations and marketing strategies would apply to me any time soon. Since then, the book has been an invaluable trail guide throughout every step of the publishing process. A first-time author can get lost in the wilderness. Fear not. David and Arielle will tell you where to find water, how to avoid offending the natives or becoming some predator's dinner, and which berries are okay to eat."

--Doug Wynne, participant at Water Street Bookstore's Sept. '12 Pitchapalooza, and author of The Devil of Echo Lake, coming from JournalStone publishers in Fall 2012.

Here’s what people are saying about The Essential Guide To Getting Your Book Published:

“I started with nothing but an idea, and then I bought this book. Soon I had an A-list agent, a near six-figure advance, and multiple TV deals in the works. Buy it and memorize it. This little tome is the quiet secret of rockstar authors.”—New York Times best-selling author Timothy Ferris, The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich.